A rejected proposal for a pair of digital billboards in downtown Scranton ran counter to the example set by late Scranton native and urbanist guru Jane Jacobs, who advocated for maintaining neighborhoods, retail stores and walkability in cities, according to the city’s Historical Architecture Review Board.
The board in March rejected Kegerreis Outdoor Advertising’s proposal to convert the two-faced “static” billboard signs at 320 Mulberry St. into rotating LED digital signs. That rejection went to Scranton City Council on Tuesday, in the form of a resolution from the administration of Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, for council to uphold or reverse.
Council backed HARB in a 5-0 vote — with council President Gerald Smurl, Bill King, Mark McAndrew, Jessica Rothchild and Tom Schuster in favor — to introduce a resolution accepting HARB’s denial of a conversion of the static signs on the two-sided structure into digital signs, according to an Electric City Television simulcast and video of the council meeting posted on YouTube. The resolution likely would come back before council for a vote on adoption at its next meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
The Kegerreis firm, which recently bought the sign structure that was erected in 2012 without zoning approval, sought HARB approval in February for the conversion of the two signs into rotating LED digital signs.
At the February meeting, Scott Kegerreis said his company already had removed both static signs and installed one digital sign facing west, before the city issued a stop-work order. Kegerreis thought the prior owner received the appropriate permits from the city for the conversion of static signs to digital, but there was a “giant miscommunication.” He said officials told him to go before HARB, and if it said yes, then the digital billboards would be permissible. HARB initially tabled the application in February for further review and then rejected it in March.
During council’s meeting Tuesday, King asked council Solicitor Tom Gilbride, “So the issue would be, if we were to grant this (digital billboard, by reversing HARB), that would just open the door to … ,” without completing the thought.
Gilbride replied, “It would take away your right to further limit any of these LEDs signs in the historic section.”
Council then voted unanimously to accept HARB’s recommendation against the digital signs at 320 Mulberry St.
Efforts on Wednesday to reach Kegerreis were unsuccessful.
HARB’s decision, memorialized in a March 14 letter to Kegerreis from HARB Chairman Michael Muller, said, “The introduction of LED display billboards is inconsistent with the historic aesthetic of the (downtown historic) district and could undermine its visual integrity.”
HARB also denied previous applications for digital signs in the historic district, Muller said. Existing digital billboards along Mulberry Street, about one or two blocks east and west of 320 Mulberry St., fall outside of the district or were installed before HARB’s expanded jurisdiction over the district, and thus were never reviewed or approved by HARB.
The brightness of LED signs and their changing visuals also could distract motorists or pedestrians and pose safety concerns, Muller said.
“Billboards — particularly electronic billboards — are fundamentally designed for vehicles, not pedestrians. Unlike traditional signage that contributes to an inviting and engaging streetscape, large-scale digital advertisements prioritize the attention of drivers, reinforcing car-centric development patterns that diminish a city’s walkability,” Muller said.
Moreover, the digital signs’ conversion proposed for 320 Mulberry St. also “runs counter to the broader vision for Scranton’s urban environment” and walkability initiatives, and would create “visual noise that detracts from the architectural fabric of a district and the pedestrian experience,” Muller said.
Muller cited Jacobs, a leading advocate for preserving dynamic, tightknit neighborhoods, and her landmark 1961 book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” which redefined views of urban life and led to revolutionary changes in how urban planning is taught and practiced. Jacobs “championed the idea that cities thrive when streets are designed for people, not just cars,” Muller said. Jacobs “argued that successful urban environments foster human-scale experiences, with visually engaging storefronts, active ground-level uses and pedestrian friendly streetscapes. Electronic billboards, by contrast, do not contribute to this kind of vitality.”
Jane Jacobs (TIMES-TRIBUNE / FILE PHOTO)
Jacobs’ vision of city and neighborhood communities was shaped in part by her Scranton roots. She was born Jane Butzner in 1916 in Scranton and her family moved from Green Ridge to neighboring Dunmore when she was 5. A graduate of the former Scranton Central High School, Butzner moved at 21 to New York City’s Greenwich Village and later married and wrote her groundbreaking book.